Thunderstorm
by deathbyepic100
Summary: What is The sufferer had two children before his execution (Kankri and Karkat). Yet before the execution they were supose to be moved, yet Karkat was somehow left behind. The Condesce finding him as a small grub and rsing him as her "pet". Yet when she need to sine a peace treaty with the humans Karkat is offered as a peace offering davekat
1. Chapter 1

Lightning flashed in the sky above, loud roars of thunder exclaimed their power in booms throughout the sky. A small red grub crept into a small corner, huddled under a small blanket. It was a thin piece of cloth, small and grey. Nothing frightened the grub more than storms. Yet now it was even more terrifying, for now he was completely alone. His older brother was carried away by his friend this morning and his dad the same earlier that evening. But when his father had left he was struggling and screaming. The small grub was even sure he saw his father cry. With that image the small grub trembled.

The door suddenly opened with a loud crash. The small troll squeaked in surprised and hid more under the blanket. His eyes barely able to see from under it, a tall woman in black and hair down to the floor emerged from the doorway. A few other tall trolls lined up beside her. She looked pretty old, about the same age as his dad. Karkat, as the small grub was named, moved around a bit more in the blanket. Unsure on how to react to the new troll, her swim suit was colored with fuchsia all over it, in intricate lines depicting the Pisces sign across her chest.

She took a few more steps in, her goons crossing the hive on either side of her. Quickly the woman kicked a large table out of the way, with all her power she made it seem like she was swatting away a tiny fly. The loud crash forced yet another squeak from the juvenile grub, but this one seemed to catch the new troll's attention. Her head turned to look straight at him. The small red grub inched back a bit, trying to make himself look as small as possible, hoping that she wouldn't see him. Though that was wishful thinking, the woman stepped closer to Karkat, her heels clicking against the wooden floor. On a sudden fight or flight response the grub ran from under the blanket, aiming straight towards the open door. Karkat's heart race and adrenalin filled his veins as he ran for his life. Only to be stopped dead in his tracks.

Two huge hands grabbed ahold of him, and no matter how hard he struggled, the grip never loosened. A large troll in indigo, with two arrow shaped horns had him in a tight grip. So tight that Karkat felt like he might get squished at any second. A chuckle arose from his capture's throat. The tall woman walked up to the indigo troll, giving him a small look of approval. The male troll nodded and handed Karkat over to her. Karkat squeaked in protest, but once he noticed that the taller woman wasn't squeezing him to death so he quieted down. He looked up at the tall woman in innocent curiosity. The poor grub didn't know that the woman responsible for his father's death and brother's disappearance was holding him in the palm of her hand. She had grey skin and little fins for ears; the thin skin jointing the small slivers of flesh together was a deep fuchsia. He black lips curled into a sickening grin, showing off her sharp razor-like teeth. Karkat gave a pitiful squeak of alarm, but the woman paid no mind. She merely went to stroking her index finger on the grubs head.

"shhh, little grub" She said with a smirk, even though the words were soothing the tone was not. Karkat was unsure how to react to her, but he figured that she was better than the guy handling him before. The indigo troll approached them, and Karkat intently puffed up and began to hiss. His new handler only chuckled.

"So what do you propose we do with it?" The man asked motioning to Karkat. An air of disgust held high in his voice. The small grub stopped hissing and looked up at the fish-woman. Still not sure what was going on, all the grub knew was that he would much rather stay with the fishy-lady.

"Well we could always keep him" She said with a tone that was a bit sinister. The indigo troll was about to protest when she spoke once more. "He could be like a small pet, the end of the Vantas family as my own personal lap bark-beast. The cancer of the troll world at my command." She spoke all this with a sick smile and while petting the small grubs head softly. The small Karkat recalled his head slightly, not being familiar with the troll touching him made him uneasy. Little did Karkat know that this woman would end up taking him to her palace, Making his life a living hell for the next eighteen years a living hell.

Karkat awoke from his dream quickly the images of the old house and the storm still seared into his brain. Yet this was a regular occurrence for him. If he was completely honest with himself it never felt like a dream, he would speculate if it was in fact a real memory. Yet madam Condesce had reassured him multiple times that she had found him abandoned by the ocean as a grub. He never had parents and no lusu would come within ten feet of him. The unwanted is the way she referred to him. With a sigh the nine sweep old boy raised himself up from his stiff bed. A thin red sheet layover it messily, his only blanket, his back stung from the lashing he had received yesterday. Fifteen in total, all for accidently bumping into The Grand Highblood after tripping over a stray mat.

Karkat couldn't really complain too much. There were worse fates than a few strikes with a whip. His hand moved around aimlessly on the desk searching for his clothes for that day. The small nick-nacks that he had accumulated from his many trips into the human town for groceries for the palace. Of course all of these trips Karkat was never alone. Equius, the executioners son, was required to go with him and on the off chance that madam Condesce is feeling kind and allows Karkat to choose his companion he would always pick his moral Eridan. With that he pulled his black sweater and pale grey pants on, accompanied by the small collar that the Condesce forced him to wear. It was a bright candy red, the same color as his blood, with white trident on it


	2. Chapter 2

Karkat walked slowly down the stunning gold plated hallway. Nothing really compared to the palace, the entirety of the enterer, excluding the floors, was plated with gold, and though the building itself was only three stories tall there were two extra ones underwater. Since madam Condesce was in fact semiaquatic. Karkat had never been able to explore the entire palace because of that fact. Yet now his main priority was to try and make it to the ball room, the center of this huge hive, where he would "clock in" for the day. It was the average routine for him ever since he was four sweeps old. Sluggishly Karkat made his way into the main ball room.

He had just concord two flights of stairs, and about ten hallways just to make it here. Yet, unlike the normal silence in the grand room, there was a flood of trolls and humans all bustling about. There were also some chatting about random events, some of them getting food at the snack bar, in which was full with all types of human and troll food. Karkat's eyes scanned for madam Condesce, once he had deciphered from all the troll and human bodies which was hers, he tried to make his way thought the crowd.

Karkat swerved through small gaps in between chatting figures. The small troll was very cautious to not bump into any of the high bloods or highly respected humans. Even though he tried his hardest not to get into a conflict with someone, one of the other servants tripped and slammed Karkat right into the closest parson in front of him. Karkat yelped in surprise as he was flung strait into a solid warm body, the impact didn't seem to disturb the victim much. Yet Karkat was knocked onto his butt, as he tried to compose himself, the stranger had already turned and was offering a hand to the small troll. The candy blooded troll didn't dare look up at first; he sat still a few seconds hoping that it wasn't the Grand Highblood or worse Madam Condesce.

"Hey kid, you ok?" A soft, concerned filled voice asked out in front of hm. At this Karkat took a deep breath and dared to look up at the man he had bumped into. There stood a tall pale human with blond hair and pointed black shades. He had on a plain white shirt, black pants and an orange cap. Even though this man was tall and muscular he didn't seem to be of any threat. Though Karkat knew better than to trust anyone right away, there was only one troll on this whole planet that he trusted and that was his moral.

"Yes sir" Karkat said quickly, using the most respected voice towards the human. He kept his head low and did not meet the taller's eyes. Slowly Karkat stood, ignoring the out stretched hand offered to him. The tall human watched the small troll, wandering why he seemed so timid towards him. From his past experiences, the human had never seen a troll behave anything less than strong and bold.

"Well, anyway, hi I'm Dirk, Dirk Strider" The tall human introduced himself with yet another outstretched hand. Karkat looked at the hand and then back to Dirk. He had seen this between humans before, the hand shake thing. Yet to Karkat's knowledge it was a sign of respect and understanding. Slowly Karkat completed the hand shake by giving his hand to Dirk, with a quick up and down motion Karkat recalled his hand.

"I'm Karkat Vantas" Karkat said his name slowly with a small bow that he would give to all highbloods. Tilting his head down and bowing with his back, he stood there for a bit then stood upright. Dirk seemed confused by this gesture, but didn't voice his opinion. A sudden hand moving up Karkat's spine made him jump and scree in surprise. Quickly the small trolls head whorled around to come face to face with the emprise herself. Karkat let out a small squeak of surprise and quickly bowed to the taller troll. Yet Dirk couldn't help but to notice that Karkat was trembling as he did this. This made the tall human weary to the empress.

"Stand up pet, no need for that now." Madam Condesce ordered the smaller troll, and Karkat immediately obeyed without a moment's hesitation. Dirk already knew who she was and that he didn't like her what so ever. He had heard many stories about her having small troll that she raised and calling him her "pet", but he never expected her to openly call the troll that or treat him like one. This sickened the human to no end.

"Hello, madam." Dirk said trying to redirect her attention to him. She looked at the human dead on, showing no weakness towards him. The normal troll response. "you requested a conference with me?" The tall woman gave a grin that could curdle milk, as her hand rested on the top of Karkat's head. Her claw like nails brushed through the poor troll's hair. Dirk watch the small troll become fringed and stiff under her touch.

"Yes, had almost forgotten." She said still combing through the small troll's hair absentmindedly. "Are you ready for our meeting?" She asked; her voice soft but with a menacing undertone. Dirk nodded quickly, but soon froze. Looking to his left then his right quickly. Shit, he let his little brother wonder off somewhere. "Is there a problem?" The Condesce inquired quickly.

"Shit" He mumbled "it seems that I have misplaced my little brother." Dirk replied quickly and the fuchsia blooded raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll find hm." Dirk said quickly trying his best not to piss madam Condesce off.

"There is no need for that." She said quickly and then looked down at the stiff troll that she had in her clutches. "Karkat, go fetch the other strider." She ordered quickly. Karkat gave a silent nod as he began to leave, no hesitation or back talk could be heard from him. Dirk was fixing to protest when madam Condesce's eyes met his. "now, if you will, company me to the meeting room"


	3. Chapter 3

At the Condesce's command Karkat was off into the crowed once more. He hated being ordered around like a dog, but he knew that he had no room to speak up. Slipping in and out of gaps between close-nit bodies once more, Karkat made sure not to let any other servant that he knew was a klutz close to him. He really had no description to go off of. All he knew was that the boy looked somewhat like his older brother, or at least Karkat hoped he did. Slowly he came to a clearing in the crowed; this clearing was at the small food set-up at the back of the room.

There were only a few humans and trolls standing around the table. Karkat hoped that one of them was the other Strider boy. The small troll took a deep breath, and began going up to every human male and asking for their name. Karkat hopped from human to human, not getting the last name of Strider from any of them. Until he rounded the table and found a tall blond boy, with tented black shades and a formal vest on. He stood leaning against the desert portion of the table, with big black headphones on his ears, seemingly out of this current world and in his own.

Karkat approached with small steps. He didn't want to disturb the boy if he wasn't the other Strider. That might relay back to madam Condesce as a bad report. The small troll shuddered; he remember last time that happened. His normal one meal a day was taken away for a week and he had to stay in solitude the entire time. Yet, Karkat knew if he didn't return soon a multitude of punishments awaited him. Slowly, the candy blooded troll tapped the boy on the shoulder, and then quickly recalled his hand. The tall boy immediately took notice and looked over at the small troll.

"What?" The boy asked as he took off his headphone, the kid looked about Karkat's age. With neatly combed blond hair and rounded out shades. He looked a lot like the older strider. Karkat bowed quickly to the taller, hoping that this human was the right one.

"Madam Condesce asked me to come and find you for the meeting." Karkat spoke quickly, his head still lowered in a bow. "That is, if you are Mr. Strider" Karkat said before then standing up right. He hated bowing really, it was just so stupid, and he also had never seen any other troll that was forced to bow. The blond raised an eyebrow to Karkat's bow and stepped a bit closer.

"Uhu, and I am supposed to believe that the big bad troll queen wants to see me?" The taller said in an annoyed tone, which made Karkat assume that he had the right parson. Though he had never heard anyone address Madam Condesce anything less than respectful.

"Yes sir" Karkat answered quickly. His tone held the utmost respect for the human. Yet the taller human seemed puzzled, just like his brother, by the bow. Sensing that the human didn't believe that Karkat was really here on the Condesce's behalf, Karkat decided to add a bit of insight as to why his presents was requested. "Your older brother, Dirk Strider, is in the meeting room with madam Condesce as we speak." The bond froze and then let out a deep sigh.

"Fine bro, whatever. Look I'll go to this lame ass meeting as long as you don't bug me again." The taller said with a slightly less annoyed tone. Karkat nodded and motioned for the tall boy to fallow him. As they started walking, an awkward silence between them hung in the air. Karkat stepped carefully through the crowd, leading the other Strider to the back left-hand corner of the room. "So kid," The blond began, trying to break the heavy silence between them. "What's your name?" He asked with a tone of curiosity and interest.

"KAR!" A sudden scream bellowed through the crowed, as the owner of the uproar cam barreling through the crowd straight towards the two boys. Before the blond even knew what was going on, his escort was tackled to the ground by a fishy assailant. Karkat made a loud screeing sound when he was tackled, though for some reason the noise reminded the blond of a crab. The said attacker was an aquatic troll with grey skin and violet eyes. He had on blue stripped pants, a violet cape and a black long sleeve shirt.

"God damn it Eridan! Get off of me!" Karkat hissed under his breath, making sure that only the troll on top of him could hear him. Eridan Whined in protest and rubbed his face against Karkat's, his arms tightening around Karkat's back. Making the small troll wince and whimper in pain, the fresh wounds rubbed roughly against the fabric of his shirt. The small troll growled at the aquatic troll. Suddenly the taller troll froze, noticing that there was a human starring at them. Eridan quickly let go of Karkat and stood up, he also grabbed the small troll's hand and helped him up.

"Hey Kar, wwho is this?" Eridan mumbled, leaning into Karkat, to hopefully say it lower than what the human can here. Karkat sighed and looked at the taller human, just realizing that he didn't even know the name of this kid. Karkat struggled to think of something to respond with.

"This is one of the Strider boys that Madam Condense requested to see." Karkat said quickly as a response, though the blond human raised an eyebrow at the two. The human stepped a bit closer to the two trolls. His expression hidden by his shades, Karkat looked up at the taller human, then to Eridan. He quickly bowed to the royal blooded troll, to hopefully make it seem like they had a somewhat business relationship. The reason being if madam Condense were to find out he had a moral Karkat would surely be culled.

"I'm sorry Mr. Ampora I need to escort Mr. Strider to the meeting room." Eridan nodded, yet both boys could tell the disgust he held for watching Karkat bow and pretend to be a mindless slave.


End file.
